Monday, November 3rd, 2008
The ruling Left Front indicated that Tata Motors should return the land at Singur to the West Bengal State government. They also indicated that the State government must take steps to promote and set up alternative industries on the land acquired by them.
According to the Left Front, Tata Motors has decided not to utilise the land for their much debated Nano project. Thus, the company should return the land to the state government so that alternative industries can be developed. Moreover, the land that cannot be returned to the farmers, it should be auctioned as per the Land Acquisition Act of India.
“We have asked the state government to go ahead in setting up alternative industries at Singur,” said Biman Bose, Left Front Chairman. “Talks are on in this regard. We are looking into all possibilities for setting up alternative industries at Singur,” reciprocated Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief Minister, the State of West Bengal.
Tata Motors had shut down the Nano plant amidst growing protests from the farmers in Singur who wanted their land to be returned to them. The protests were led by the Opposition party, Trinamool Congress, headed by Mamata Banerjee.
[Via: cartradeindia]
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Saturday, November 1st, 2008
According to a report on Bloomberg, Tata Motors , due to the global credit crisis, is likely to reconsider its plan to raise US$600 million from overseas markets. The company may also decide to go back on its earlier proposal to list its shares on the Tokyo stock exchange.
By June 2009, Tata Motors needs to raise funds to replace a US$3 billion bridge loan, which the company took to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover . Tata Motors paid US$2.4 billion earlier this year, to buy JLR from Ford.
Last month, Tata Motors closed a rights offering of shares to raise more than Rs 41 billion, to help fund the JLR purchase. The issue was fully subscribed, including Rs 30 billion of investments by the company’s promoters and Rs 3 billion being arranged by the underwriters to the issue.
[Via: indiaautomotive]
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Thursday, October 16th, 2008
The Gujarat Cabinet today decided to charge Rs 900 per square metre from Tata for the 1,100 acre given for Nano Car Project in Sanand, which means the company will have to pay Rs 400.65 crore for the land. A state cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, took the decision on the basis of recommendation of state-level land valuation committee of the state government, official sources said.
The cabinet also decided that if the Tatas pay late then they will be charged compound interest of eight per cent from the date of allocation of the land. The state government has given 1,100 acres of land near Charodi village in Sanand taluk on the outskrits of the city to the Tata’s for the relocation of their Nano car project from Singur in West Bengal. An agreement was signed between Gujarat government and the Tatas last week for establishment of the project.
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Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
The farmers of Khoda and Bol village today claimed that a large portion of the proposed 1100 acre for Nano is their ancestral property and the land was given for the cattle farm which falls under Anand Agriculture University. The state government has given half of the 2200 acres of land to the Tatas.
A group of farmers from the two villages met Ahmedabad district collector and handed over a memorandum to the collector Hareet Shukla. They claim that the land was leased out to the British by their forefathers and the government should compensate them at prevailing market price.
Mukeshsinh Vaghela a farmer from Khoda village said, ”We have met the collector and represented our side. Our forefather had given 765 acre and 12 ‘Guntha’ land for noble purpose of grass for cattle and for conservation of best breed in the year of 1902. Official claims that compensation for the land had been already paid to farmers which is not true.”
The farmers have demanded that they wanted the state government to show all records of the ‘compensation’. “We want to know that the so-called compensation had been paid at which rates and who has received the payment,” he said.
On Tuesday around 50 farmers alongwith MLA Kama Rathod had gone to meet the collector. Said Jitsinh Vaghela, another farmer: “We are not against of Tata Nano project. We are only demanding that the state government should have given all details to us if they have paid compensation for the land. And if we have not recieved any payment in the past we want compensation of our forefathers land at current market rate.”
[Via: economictimes]
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Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
Singur and Nano strife seems far from being over, however, one can see the silver lining in the grey overcast. Trinamool Congress leader, RN Bhattacharya, Head of the Joint Committee, said: “The state government has made some proposals on the land return issue within the Nano plant. We too, have explained our position. We hope to place an interim report by Monday and continue discussions to resolve the matter soon.”
West Bengal government has identified some land in the Singur Tata Motors plant that can be returned to the farmers. It has also managed to scale down the demands from the protestors to 200 acres of land. The 3-hour long closed door session with opposition leaders, the State government officials have managed to drive a hard bargain of scaling down the land demand.
The land identified by the State government officials that can be returned to the farmers include 10 acres of land reserved for landscaping, 30 acres water body reserved for setting up training centre and in-house medical facility. WBIDC will also offer 47.11 acres of land along with its plot for rehabilitation of farmers.
Thus, 87.11 acres of land with be available for local farmers. The final land deal shall be struck when Tata Motors officials also join in and settle down for a the final negotiations. So far, the company spokesperson remarked that, “”We are hopeful that the joint committee will evolve a land return formula that appeases all stakeholders. For the moment, it is pretty much a wait-and-watch policy for us.”
[Via: Cartradeindia]
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Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Drop in SUV sales in most markets have forced Tata Motor’s owned Land Rover to cut production and redeploy 300 workers, The Sunday Telegraph has reported. “Two shifts have been lost at Solihull, the main Land Rover production centre, and three will be cut next month at the Halewood factory on Merseyside, where the Jaguar X-Type is assembled,” a report in The Sunday Telegraph said.
The company has transferred around 300 workers from Solihull to the Jaguar’s production line at Castle Broomwich because of no work. Tata Motors is reviewing the sales performance on a montly basis with Land Rover to keep production in line with the sales.
The sales have nose dived by over 31% in USA alone and it could have been worse if not for the brand’s strong performance in emerging markets like Russia and China. The sales are down just 3% compared to the same period last year. The report also added “Tata was forced to ditch the rights issue planned to help finance the 1.15 billion pound paid to Ford for JLR due to share price weakness. Tata will look at asset sales as an alternative.”
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Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Tata Motors is finalizing plans to bring Land Rover to India in a big way, and also looking at the possibility of selling Jaguar CBUs here, albeit on a smaller scale. ‘Land Rover is already present in India in a small way. We understand from our colleagues in Jaguar Land Rover [JLR] that they are looking at expanding Land Rover’s footprint in the Indian market in a fairly aggressive manner in the near future,’ says Rajiv Dube, President - Passenger Cars, Tata Motors.
Earlier this year, Tata Motors had acquired Jaguar and Land Rover at a cost of over US$2 billion. Land Rover has dealerships in Mumbai and Gurgaon, and Tata Motors sees a growing market for Land Rover SUVs in the country. It also sees sales potential for Jaguar’s luxury cars in India, though probably on a smaller scale than Land Rover.
In the meanwhile, Tata Motors is also preparing to launch its next-generation Indigo and its Safari-Sumo crossover - the Xover - which was first shown at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. However, no time-frame has yet been announced for these new launches.
[Via: Indiaautomotive]
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